I’m busy reading The Immortals, Book 1 of an exciting new series by Jordanna Max Brodsky. Brodsky’s star character is the Greek goddess Artemis, living in modern New York City. These days she goes as Selene DiSilva and in her current life she spends her time avenging violence against women.

When Selene discovers a woman’s mutilated body on the rocks of the Hudson River, disturbing signs point to an ancient cult ritual. As police detectives work to solve the murder, Selene starts her own investigation and calls upon her Greek counterparts for help.

I like this painting of Artemis, artist unknown. medeaslair.net

It’s been a while since I studied Greek mythology, so I pulled out my copy of Mythology by Edith Hamilton. Here’s what Hamilton says about Artemis:

She was “Apollo’s twin sister, daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was one of the three maiden goddesses of Olympus.”

Artemis “was the Lady of Wild Things, Huntsman-in-chief to the gods, an odd office for a woman. Like a good huntsman, she was careful to preserve the young; she was the ‘the protectress of dewy youth’ everywhere.”

Wikipedia describes Artemis as “the Hellenic goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women; she often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the ancient role of Eileithyia in aiding childbirth.”

Wikipedia shares this Roman copy of a Greek sculpture by Leochares, on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Brodsky has chosen a great symbol of female strength. And it’s fun to imagine that the Greek gods and goddesses are living among us. I’m about a hundred pages into The Immortals and I can tell you that Selene DiSilva is one tough lady. I’ll be cheering for her as the story develops.

Jordanna Max Brodsky

Brodsky has been fascinated by mythology since she was a young girl, so it’s no surprise that the gods and goddesses play prominent roles in her series. You can read all about Brodsky here. And stay tuned for my review of Book 1!